Pa. Senate takes up $2.3B transportation bill

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The Pennsylvania state Senate is taking up a major transportation spending proposal a day after the House voted to support it.

The Senate began debate Wednesday in a bid to pass it within hours and set it up for a final House vote this week.

The proposal is supported by Gov. Tom Corbett and proponents say Pennsylvania’s transportation infrastructure is in dire need of improvements. It would raise gasoline taxes and motorist fees to spend $2.3 billion a year more on roads, bridges and mass transit systems, roughly 40 percent of what the Department of Transportation spends now.

In the House, conservatives objected that it would be the second-largest tax increase in Pennsylvania history. Also, Senate Democrats hope to strip a provision inserted by House Speaker Sam Smith to force down workers’ wages on some highway projects.